The Danger of Crash Barriers for Motorcyclists

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Eamonn Townsend

The Danger of Crash Barriers for Motorcyclists

Post by Eamonn Townsend »

Commissioner Loyola De Palacio wants actions in Spain and Europe

"The continuous work starts now to show very positive results. Finally, the European Commission admitted that crash barriers are very dangerous for motorcyclists. Now we start seeing adequate lateral protections for "every" road user. Besides, the sector is aware of the problematic and seems to be supporting our initiative. This feeling gives us energy to continue our work. From now on, let's open the throttle towards a design standard and the fitting of crash barrier protectors on European roads." This declaration from Mr Carlos Bautista Ojeda MEP followed a meeting held with the Vice-President for Transport and Energy last July.

This meeting was organised at the initiative of Mr Carlos Bautista in order to express the widespread concerns of motorcyclists about the danger of existing crash barriers. This was organised following a demonstration held last June in Madrid, and supported by thousands of riders, in protest against these dangerous devices.

In the course of the meeting, FEMA reminded the Commissioner of the project that had been undertaken by FEMA with the support of the European Commission in 1999 "Crash Barriers and Motorcyclists". The final report of this project proposes alternatives to existing devices that could be promoted in all countries of Europe.

Mrs De Palacio was concerned about the problem and assured that immediate actions would be advised to the Spanish authorities. A correspondence would also be sent to all Member States. FEMA offered its assistance in the drafting of these letters. On the European front, the Commissioner declared that a point referring to the need of improving the safety of crash barriers would be included in the EU Road Safety Programme 2002-2010. Another commitment made by Mrs De Palacio was that, during the Spanish Presidency of the European Union, particular attention would be given to the matter, by setting up a Working Group (WG) with all interested parties, including representatives of the European Commission, FEMA representing European Motorcyclists and the CEN (Committee of European Standardisation). One of the main objectives of this WG will be to define a crash barriers' standard in order to make them safer for all road users, motorcyclists included!

FEMA welcomes this commitment and sees it as a very good opportunity to continue with its work on making crash barriers safer for riders. Campaigns are already underway in Austria, France, Germany, Luxembourg and Portugal where FEMA's national organisations are promoting and fixing protectors to make crash barriers safer for riders.

FEMA is looking forward to the beginning of next year, when Spain will hold the EU Presidency, and to the co-operation with the European authorities to coordinate actions all over Europe.
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